When Lines Are Blurred
by Withoutatracelover996
Summary: What happens when Carlos poses a threat to Danny and Elena and Jack decides to get involved? Major Jack angst near the end.
1. Brother to Brother

**Set late seventh season. Thank you hotchner for the story idea. I can't believe I'm taking on a second story, hopefully it will be good! Thanks guys!**

"Are you getting cold feet yet?" Elena asked, sneaking up on Danny.

"No." Danny scoffed.

Danny stood up and took Elena in his arms, "I love you Elena. I would never get cold feet about the best decision in my life." Danny hesitated, "Speaking of which, what do you think if I adopt Sofie and become her legal father?"

"Danny, we've talked about this, I don't think it's a good idea. It's just not necessary. And Carlos would blow a gasket. You know him Danny, he will." Elena said.

"It's important to me Elena. Carlos doesn't matter." Danny said, looking into her eyes seriously.

"It's never going to work Danny. There is no way Carlos would give up his custody rights. Just drop it ok?" Elena said, becoming frustrated.

"Ok. Fine." Danny said. His mind worked furiously. He wanted to be Sofie's legal father. He would have to get Carlos to give up Sofie himself.

* * *

"What's up Danny boy?" Carlos asked, flopping down onto the couch.

Danny sighed, "Carlos, I want to adopt Sofie." Danny said, refusing to sit down.

"Well when I die, feel free." Carlos joked. Carlos watched Danny's expression and realized he was serious. Carlos' eyes narrowed, "You really want to adopt my kid? My flesh and blood? Why the hell would you want to do that?" Carlos asked, anger burning in his eyes. "First you take my life as your own, then you take my wife and now you want my kid too? I can't believe I ever called you my brother!" Carlos shouted, now in Danny's face.

"All I want is a good life for Sofie and you are not giving her that Carlos!" Danny shouted back, both men just inches from each others faces.

"Get out of my house now. And don't you ever come back." Carlos said dangerously.

Danny considered retaliating but thought better of it and slammed out of Carlos' apartment.

**Ok so I know that was REALLY short but I'm not so sure where I want to go with this story. It is based on hotchner's idea so it involves Jack, don't worry **** If you like it, let me know, if I don't get a good response I think I might leave it… I'm not too sure yet. Thanks guys! **

**P.S. Hotchner, this is a really good story idea I'm just not sure where I want to take it yet. I'll try and figure it out. **


	2. Close Encounters

"She's going to need this." Jack said, picking up Elena's purse which had been left on the desk.

Jack picked up his cell phone and began to dial but stopped when he heard a jingle coming from Elena's purse. _Right. _Jack thought.

Jack glanced at his watch and sighed.

Jack's headlights shone on the apartment building. He stretched his sore back as he got out of the car, squinting in the dark. He made out a figure speaking into the intercom at the front of Elena and Danny's building.

"You'd better let me up right now Elena… I don't care if Sofie is in bed; I need to talk to Danny now!" Carlos yelled, slamming his fist into the wall in frustration when Elena hung up on him.

"Can I help you?" Jack asked.

"No. I was just leaving." Carlos said, shoving his way past Jack.

"Hold on." Jack said, grabbing Carlos by the collar of his shirt. "What did you need to talk to Danny about?"

"Why the hell is it your business?" Carlos said, yanking himself out of Jack's grasp.

Jack blocked his way once again, causing an infuriated Carlos to wind up; only to find himself at the wrong end of Jack's gun. "Why… did you need… to talk to Danny?" Jack asked in a slow, dangerous tone.

"Look man, I don't know what your problem is, but Danny is my brother and I just needed to talk to him about some family business ok?" Carlos said through clenched teeth.

"Let me make something clear," Jack said, inches from Carlos' face, "If I ever catch you hassling this family again, I will make sure that the next time you see your brother is behind bars, understood?"

Carlos pulled away, "Yeah I understand." He snarled.

Jack waited until Carlos was far down the street before he buzzed Elena.

"I am going to call the cops on you Carlos if you don't leave us alone!" Elena said over the speaker.

"Elena, Elena it's me, Jack. Carlos is gone. I brought your purse, your left it at the office." Jack said.

"Oh I'm so sorry, come on up." Elena said, letting Jack in.

"How long has he been bothering you?" Jack asked, sitting on Elena's couch, coffee in hand.

"It's not just me, Jack, he goes to Sofie's school, he is always calling Danny… he won't leave us alone!" Elena said.

"Do you want protection?" Jack asked.

"No, he's not dangerous. It's fine." Elena said.

Jack noticed her hands were shaking. "Is Danny home?" Jack asked.

"No, he's at the store; he'll be back any minute now." Elena said.

"Why don't you get some sleep? I can wait for Danny out here." Jack offered.

"No, I'll wait with you. He'll only be a minute or two." Elena said. "More coffee?"

"No thanks, I'll be up all night." Jack declined.

The handle to the apartment turned and Danny walked in, carrying two bags of groceries. "Jack. What are you doing here?" Danny asked.

"I was just dropping off Elena's purse but then I saw Carlos outside. What's going on?" Jack asked.

"Carlos was here again?" Danny asked.

"Can't you talk to him Danny? He was here half an hour before Jack scared him off." Elena said shakily.

"You think I haven't tried? I'll go talk to him first thing in the morning. Don't worry, he'll stop bothering us." Danny tried to comfort his shaky fiancé.

"What does he want?" Jack asked.

Danny and Elena exchanged looks.

"Ok, I'll stay out of it." Jack said. "If you need anything, let me know. And tell me if he doesn't stop ok?"

Elena nodded.

"Danny?" Jack said.

"Yes, fine. But don't worry; tomorrow I'll set him straight." Danny assured Jack.

"Be careful." Jack warned as he headed out of Danny's apartment, "I don't want your photo on the whiteboard."

**Alright I've got a better idea of where this is going now. Sorry for taking such a long time to update. Thanks for the reviews guys!**


	3. Actions Based on Jealousy

Samantha cast a worried glance over to her friend. Elena had dark circles under her eyes and was moving slowly, not completely focused on the task at hand.

"Are you feeling alright Elena?" Samantha asked, concerned.

Elena seemed to snap out of it, "Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Just tired that's all. I was up all night last night worrying…" Elena fell silent again.

"Worrying about what? Are you alright?" Samantha asked, walking over to stand beside Elena, offering her comfort.

Elena's eyes began to fill with tears, "It's Carlos. Danny went over there to talk to him yesterday and he hasn't come home yet. He called me to say he was alright. He said he needed a day or two. I'm so worried about him Sam." Elena broke down.

"Shh, shh, it's ok." Samantha comforted, giving Elena a warm hug.

* * *

_Flashback._

_"Carlos, you have to stop bothering us. Elena can't take it anymore." Danny reasoned._

_ "All I wanted to do was talk to you." Carlos said, feigning innocence. _

_ Danny sighed. "Well, here I am. What do you want to talk about?" _

_ Carlos wound up and slammed a punch into Danny's face. Danny grunted and stumbled backwards, shocked. He felt a trickle of blood run down his face._

_ "Got a little nose bleed Danny boy?" Carlos smirked._

_ "Obviously, you don't want to talk." Danny said, holding one hand to his nose. "Just leave us alone." _

_ "Is that all you got? Come back here Danny! I'm not finished with you!" Carlos shouted as he watched Danny leave._

_ End Flashback._

_

* * *

_Danny sighed. This wasn't even about Sofie anymore. This was about Carlos; jealous of Danny for taking Elena, taking Sofie, having that life that Carlos had always wanted. "_And I can't fix that." _Danny thought dejectedly.

* * *

Carlos sighed. Danny Taylor. The biggest lying, cheat on the planet. Stealing away his girlfriend and his daughter. Stealing every damn piece of dignity that he had left.

Carlos sat, deep in thought. What could he do? What could he do to fix it all? An idea popped into his head and he leaned back, with a satisfied grin on his face.

**Sorry, another short chapter. I am trying to juggle 'Consequences' and 'When Lines Are Blurred' at the same time and it's proving to be a challenge especially cause there is that other, horrible world out there… sigh, reality. I would much rather sit at home and write all day but I have to do other, less interesting things. Haha, I'll work on it! Thanks guys!**


	4. Gut Feelings

"Someone needs to convince Danny to come back." Jack said.

"Why?" Samantha asked, surprised.

"Something's not right. Can we put a tail on Carlos?" Jack asked.

"Um, yeah, but is that nessesary? He's not a suspect..." Samantha said, trying to read Jack's facial expression.

"Just do it until Danny gets back, ok?" Jack said.

"Yeah. Sure." Samantha watched Jack for a moment longer before turning around and leaving the break room.

* * *

"Can you do something for me Sofie?" Carlos asked, holding out a tape recorder.

"Sure. What is it?" Sofie asked, craning her neck to get a better look at the recorder.

"I need you to read off of this piece of paper. You need to sound really scared ok? It's for a movie daddy's making." Carlos said encouragingly.

"Ok." Sofie said. She took the piece of paper from Carlos and began to read aloud.

* * *

Danny's face turned white as he listened to the message.

He listened carefully, then began to carry out the instructions. Step 1: Throw the cell phone into the dumpster across the street. Done.

Onto Step 2.

* * *

"Jack, the tail can't find Carlos." Samantha said.

"What do you mean he can't find him?" Jack asked angrily.

"No one's seen him for days." Samantha explained.

"Can you call Danny's cell phone again? Make sure he's safe?" Jack asked.

"Right now?" Samantha asked.

"Yes." Jack said.

Samantha dialed the phone number and put it on speaker.

_This is Danny Taylor, I can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can._

"Which cell tower did the phone ping off of last?" Jack asked.

"I'll go find out." Samantha offered then left for the tech room.

Jack sat down at his desk and put his head into his hands. _I have a bad feeling about this._

**Alright there's chapter 4. More to come! Sorry I've been slow on updates, getting back into the swing of things now.**


	5. Unfortunate Circumstances

Danny tucked his chin into his scarf to protect himself from the cold wind. His teeth chattered and his hands were turning red. He listened to the water crashing into the rocks below him. Danny sighed. How had he gotten into this mess? Now that he thought about it, being Sofie's legal father wouldn't really be different than being her step father.

Headlights illuminated Danny's face. The car stopped and a hooded man got out. "Alright Taylor, let's make the trade."

"How do I know you'll keep Sofie safe?" Danny asked.

"I'll tell you something. I've been watching you for the past half hour. You know, make sure there's no cops. I called my guy, Sofie is already home with her mother. Look, here's a picture. Time-stamped and everything." The man said, holding out his phone.

Danny inspected the digital photograph. "Ok, you held up your end of the deal, I'll hold up mine."

Danny started to walk towards the car. He stopped, spinning on his heel and aiming a fist right at the man's face. An audible crack sounded, followed by a man's pain filled scream.

"What the hell, man?" Carlos said, taking off his mask and letting the blood from his nose run onto the pavement.

"Carlos?" Danny said, surprised.

"I'm going to kill you, man." Carlos said, picking himself up off of the floor.

Danny pulled a gun on Carlos, "Stand up slowly with your hands on your head."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Carlos warned.

"Slowly, I said." Danny said firmly.

Carlos shrugged, "You asked for it." Carlos signalled with his finger.

Danny whirled around and felt a gun being pressed against his back. "Damn." He cursed.

"Put your gun down, Danny." Carlos comanded calmly.

Danny put his hands up and slowly knelt down, dropping his gun onto the ground.

"Get in the car." Carlos demanded.

Danny obeyed meekly, climbing into the car. Hours later, he watched the city lights fade into the distance.

**A/N: Looks like Danny's in some trouble... ;) Reviews would be great, thanks!**


	6. Tempting Offers

**I'm SOO sorry that I've been so slow. I'm dying to finish up this story and 'Consequences' so in the next couple of days (hopefully) I will be wrapping both of them up. I just got a new puppy who's a bit of a firecracker and a lot of my time has been given to training her ;). So thanks for bearing with me! (Especially you mirella ;) ) So here we go!**

"Ok so I looked up the phone records and Danny's cell phone pinged off of a tower near the South Bronx about an hour ago." Samantha said after entering Jack's office.

"How long was the call?" Jack questioned.

"Thirty seconds." Samantha responded from memory.

"Voicemail?" Jack wondered.

"I can have Lucy* pull up Danny's messages." Samantha offered.

"Yeah that would be great." Jack dismissed.

* * *

"What do you want with me Carlos?" Danny asked fiercely.

Carlos laughed quietly. "I'm going to kill you."

Danny paused, wondering if he'd heard correctly, "What did you say?"

"I said I'm going to kill you, you idiot!" Carlos shouted.

Danny leaned back in his seat. "Listen Carlos, you're not going to do that. What would Sofie say when she finds out? You're daughter would always think of you as murdering someone her mother loved! Do you want that for your daughter?" Danny asked, his voice becoming louder and louder.

"I thought of that. Did you know you've been taking anti-depressants for the past few months?" Carlos asked slyly.

Danny was taken aback, "You're going to stage a suicide? Why, Carlos? What is the point in all of this?"

Carlos sighed, never taking his eyes off of the road. "I look at you Danny, and I used to feel this connection. This brotherhood. Now all I feel is this burning hatred. I don't want you around. I don't want you in my Sofie's life and I don't want you in Elena's life. I want you to die." Carlos said firmly.

Danny was thankful Carlos could not see the bruised look in his eyes. Danny was silent for a moment, thinking. He wondered why his life kept falling apart every time he started to feel happy. His parents dying, his brother having so many issues and now Carlos. He thought that Elena and Sofie were the best things that had ever happened to him but now he realized it had only made things worse.

"If you drop me off here, I'll disappear. You'll never see me again. I'll leave New York, I'll leave America, hell, Carlos, I'll even leave North America." Danny filled with regret after speaking those words, silently hoping Carlos wouldn't take him up on his offer.

Carlos paused and seemed to be considering this tempting offer...


	7. 2 Shots Fired

Jack's hands clutched the steering wheel as his car raced off. At the moment, Danny Taylor was the only thing on his mind.

Without telling anyone else, Jack had decided to follow the smallest of leads in a currently non existent case. He was going to get nailed for this one.

Carlos' cell phone had pinged off of a cell tower in the middle of Pennsylvania.

Jack's headlights reflected off of the sign welcoming him into the neighboring state.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Jack?" Samantha asked.

Vivian, Elena and Martin turned, "No."

Martin looked puzzled, "You know, he was acting kind of strange today. I saw him about an hour and a half ago, right before he made an excuse and left."

Samantha's face became serious as the realization dawned on her. "Danny."

* * *

"Well Danny my friend, it's certainly a tempting offer but unfortunately I can't take you up on that." Carlos said.

"So you're going to kill me." Danny said, his voice cracking slightly.

Carlos turned and smiled at him. Danny almost missed the glint of a steel blade in Carlos' hand. Almost.

* * *

Jack spoke into the receiver, "Uh huh, thanks." before hanging up the phone. The man on the other end had told Jack the exact location of Carlos' now parked car.

"Two more blocks." Jack mumbled to himself, turning the steering wheel.

* * *

Samantha groaned, "Ok thanks." She hung up the phone and turned to the rest of the team. "That was one of our tech agents. He was talking to Jack a few minutes ago. Jack's in Pennsylvania, following Carlos."

* * *

"No Carlos, please, don't let Sophie think you're a killer. Please Carlos!" Danny shouted.

Carlos gestured for Danny to get out of your car.

Standing outside of the vehicle, Carlos had pulled Danny's gun out and was now pointing it at agent Taylor.

"Don't worry, I won't shoot you. Too much evidence, bullet casings and what not." Carlos said, still wielding the knife. "Don't think I won't shoot, though, if you try to run."

Danny stood in the cold, his hands up. A single tear ran down his face as he realized these were his last few seconds on this earth.

Through the gloom, headlights appeared.

"Pretend you're helping me with my car." Carlos demanded.

Danny knelt down and pretended to fiddle with a tire while Carlos, with his back to the road, kept his gun pointed at Danny.

Danny prayed the car would keep going, he didn't want anyone to get killed.

Danny's heart sunk as the car veered off of the road and crunched onto the gravel, prompting Carlos to turn.

A figure exited the vehicle and ducked behind the car door, gun in hand, "Jack Malone, FBI, drop your weapon."

Carlos' face contorted into anger as he fired several shots at the dark car.

Jack returned fire and two bullets found their target.

Only one inside of Carlos Santos.

**Sorry it was so long coming. I've finished writing the entire story but my house flooded and we had to move out for a month and we just moved back. But I have internet now which lets me post my story! Wooh hoo!**


	8. News in Hospitals

**WARNING: This fic is about to take a very sharp JS turn.**

"Jack!" Danny shouted after Carlos fell to the ground with a grunt.

Jack gasped as pain ricocheted through his body.

"It's ok Jack, I'm getting help." Danny said, pulling out Jack's cell phone and dialing first 911, then the FBI office back in Manhatten.

FBI Office

"Danny!" Elena cried, tears in her eyes as she heard her husband's voice. Her happiness dissolved, however, as she listened to what Danny was telling her. "Oh no. Is he going to be ok?" Elena bit her lip, "Alright, I'll tell everyone." Elena hung up the phone and turned to the anxious people sitting in front of her.

"It doesn't look good." Elena said.

* * *

The tension was thick in the hospital waiting room. No one spoke. The doctor appeared and shook her head sadly.

Samantha stared at the doctor, a shocked expression on her face. She stood up.

"Excuse me." She said, pushing past the doctor.

"I'm sorry miss, you can't go in there." The doctor protested.

Samantha ignored the doctor, walking quickly towards the operation room she had been told Jack was in.

Several nurses turned to stare but no one made a move to stop Samantha.

Sam stopped at the operating room window and looked inside, her eyes filling with tears when she saw Jack's body lying there, cold and pale, a bullet hole nestled in his chest. A defibrillator sat by his side and she could see the marks the machine had made on his chest.

Samantha put her hands on the window and burst into loud, uncontrolled sobs that wracked her whole body.

She thought back to when she first met her boss, how he always tried to make sure she was safe. How she never looked at Jack as a boss but as her best friend, her true love even.

She stared at his body just lying there and silently willed him to get up, to be alright. _'I loved you!'_ She thought fiercely, _'It's not fair.'_ She continued to think, _'It's not fair.'_

**So, another chapter? I have one more written... Review :)**


	9. Realities

**I forgot to say last time I posted, Hotchner, I'm so sorry for your loss. **

**So everybody, slightly disappointed about the lack of reviews (Thank you Kimberleah)... especially surprised considering I KILLED JACK! Ok, ok, I know everyone posted at the same time BUT, hopefully after this final chapter I'll get a few more reviews. Goal of 15? Thanks guys! Hope you enjoy the conclusion!**

As I said, this story does take a huge Jack/Sam turn.

"Sam, wake up!" Danny said, shaking Samantha awake.

Samantha woke up bleary eyed and felt Danny stroking her hair and speaking to her softly, "It's ok, it was just a dream."

Samantha looked up at him, confused.

"You were crying in your sleep." Danny explained.

It all came back to Samantha, "Jack's not dead? It was just a dream?" She asked hopefully.

"No, Jack's not dead. The doctor came out a minute ago. He's going to be fine." Danny confirmed.

"Well when can I see him?" Samantha demanded, the dream leaving her with an urge to see Jack, hold him, kiss him.

"One of us can see him now. Do you want to go?" Danny offered.

Samantha nodded at him gratefully and walked briskly towards Jack's room.

* * *

Jack opened his eyes and winced as the pain from the shot to his gut was realized. He looked over and was surprised to see Samantha there, crying beside him.

"Are you ok?" Jack croaked.

Sam looked up and smiled, wiping away the tears. "I'm fine. I'm just gald you're ok."

Jack smiled. "Yeah, me too."

Samantha laughed and proceeded to sigh.

Jack cocked his head to one side, "What?" He asked.

"I love you." Samantha said.

Jack looked at her, taken aback. "I love you too."

Samantha smiled. "Prove it."

Jack frowned, considering how he might do that.

"Marry me." Samantha said.

Jack looked up sharply.

"Prove to me you love me and marry me." Samantha said, a playful smile on her lips.

"Come here." Jack beckoned.

Samantha leaned in.

Jack whispered, "Marry me, Samantha Spade."

END

**TA-DA! Yay happy endings :) Well the story was definetley a long time coming but we're finally here at the end. So now that I have no more WAT stories going I am open for suggestions :) I do however... have a new WAT story that I've been writing here and there... It's already got 8 chapters and it's a Jack/Sam one. If you're interested, I could start posting...**

**Please review and let me know what you thought of the story! **

**Thanks to my reviewers:**

**Mirella54**

**Kimberleah**

**Hotchner**

**Jacks in my head**

**DannaWAT**


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